England arrive at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ as Group L’s strongest side on paper. UEFA Euro 2024 runners-up, a squad loaded with Premier League quality, a generation of players who have finally learned how to win in big tournaments. On paper, this is England’s group to lead.
Then there is Croatia. At every World Cup for the past decade, people have underestimated them. At the 2018 World Cup, they reached the final. At the 2022 World Cup, they finished third. Croatia do not care about paper. They show up, they compete, and somehow they always find a result when it matters most.
Panama and Ghana fight for third — and in this expanded FIFA World Cup 2026™, third place still carries real value. Eight of the twelve third-place finishers go through to the round of 32. For both sides, finishing ahead could be the difference between the round of 32 and a flight home.
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England: the talent is there. The question is always the same.
England reached the UEFA Euro 2024 final and lost to Spain. The squad that came back from that final has not forgotten the feeling.
Jude Bellingham is the engine — creative, physical, capable of arriving late in the box to score goals that do not look possible. Bukayo Saka provides width and constant danger on the right. Phil Foden brings moments of imagination that unlock the tightest defences. Cole Palmer is perhaps the most in-form of all of them. England have enough in this squad to go very deep in the 2026 World Cup. Group L should be managed comfortably. Croatia on June 18 is the first proper test — and the match that sets the tone for everything that follows.
Croatia: never count them out
Luka Modric is 40. He is playing in his fifth and final World Cup. Croatia’s golden generation is ageing. None of that means they will be easy opponents.
Croatia’s success over the past two decades has never been built on youth or physicality. It has been built on football intelligence — the ability to control a match through positioning, patience, and the kind of midfield quality that most nations do not develop once in a generation, let alone twice. Mateo Kovacic carries that tradition forward. Andrej Kramaric scores goals from midfield. Their opening fixture against England is the match that defines Group L. Win that, and Croatia are in control of their own destiny. Even a draw makes second place very much theirs to pursue. This team has been written off before. It never ends well for those who write them off.
Panama: the CONCACAF qualifier who refuses to be a tourist
Panama made their World Cup debut at the 2018 tournament in Russia and lost all three matches. They are not the same side. CONCACAF qualification has become progressively harder, and Panama earned their place at the FIFA World Cup 2026™ by beating teams who had every reason to stop them.
They are organised and physical, and they will make Ghana’s life difficult in the battle for third place. Their opening match against Ghana on June 18 at 4:30 AM IST is essentially a mini-final for the third-place slot. Win it, and Panama are ahead on the table with two more matches to play. They will not beat England or Croatia. But three points against Ghana could be worth everything.
Ghana: the Black Stars looking for a spark
Ghana have one of the great what-if moments in World Cup history. In South Africa 2010, with a quarter-final place at stake against Uruguay, Asamoah Gyan stepped up to take a last-minute penalty that would have made Ghana the first African nation to reach a World Cup semi-final. He hit the bar. Uruguay survived on penalties.
The current squad is a generation removed from that pain, but the ambition remains. Jordan Ayew is their most experienced attacking player. Ghana are not as strong as England or Croatia, and Panama will push them hard for third. Their June 18 opener against Panama is the match that shapes the rest of their campaign. Lose that, and the path becomes very narrow very quickly.
FIFA World Cup 2026™ Group L fixtures (all times IST)
| Match | Fixture | Date (IST) | Kick-off (IST) | Venue |
| 1 | England vs Croatia | Jun 18 | 1:30 AM | AT&T Stadium, Dallas |
| 2 | Ghana vs Panama | Jun 18 | 4:30 AM | BMO Field, Toronto |
| 3 | England vs Ghana | Jun 24 | 1:30 AM | Gillette Stadium, Boston |
| 4 | Panama vs Croatia | Jun 24 | 4:30 AM | BMO Field, Toronto |
| 5 | Panama vs England | Jun 28 | 2:30 AM | MetLife Stadium, New York/New Jersey |
| 6 | Croatia vs Ghana | Jun 28 | 2:30 AM | Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia |
The verdict
England should win the group. Their squad is deep enough and experienced enough to handle Croatia, Panama, and Ghana without serious trouble. Second place belongs to Croatia, who carry too much quality and tournament experience to be displaced by Panama or Ghana. The real contest in Group L is at the bottom — Panama and Ghana are closely matched, and their head-to-head on June 18 is the decisive moment. Whoever wins that match controls their own path to a third-place finish that, in this World Cup, is worth a place in the round of 32.
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